10,000 dead? Senator says federal reponse gets an "F"

Listening to the local Neocon network (Rush, Hannity, etc) you'd swear that everything is just peachy in how things are evolving. Maybe if I was a braindead luddite that doesn't read the news it would be.

This may be the worst national disaster in US history, meanwhile the majority of our guard units are sitting in Iraq.

Did someone miss the point what "National Guard" actually means, like the enitire federal government?

Pray we don't get another hurricane before the season is over with this inept bunch of fools in charge.

-------------------

"My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," Vitter said, adding that he was not basing his remarks on any official death toll or body count.

Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, also called for the immediate deployment of regular US combat troops in New Orleans, saying the build-up of National Guard troops was too slow to quickly restore order.

Such a step would require Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to formally request the dispatch of federal army soldiers, a highly unusual step.

Blanco said on Thursday that she had asked for 40,000 troops, the majority of which are National Guard units from Louisiana and elsewhere.

Five-thousand National Guard troops are expected to be on the ground in violence-wracked New Orleans by late Friday, military leaders said.

But Vitter said that timeline could be too slow, amid reports that bands of armed men are roaming the streets in the city, which is 80 percent submerged in floods brought in by a storm tide after the hurricane hit on Monday.

Vitter, speaking to reporters at the emergency response center in Baton Rouge, also said he gave the federal government a grade 'F' for its response to the disaster so far.

news.yahoo.com...


[edit on 2-9-2005 by Regenmacher]

As sad as it sounds I believe that it will be that many taking in considerations that is many areas still submerge in water all the way to the roof of the houses.

Its going to be a sad and very tedious job to get all the bodies and identify them so the families have something to put to rest.

very sad.

I am still in the anger phase, it will be awhile till I can adequately grieve, considering we have yet to see the full magnitude of the fallout from this. Although it really makes me wonder what really went on in Jakarta, if this is happening to the presumed rich nation.

Latest cost analysis is $100 billion! Egads, can someone say that Uncle Sam's achilles heel has been cut?

Angelina Jolie (goodwill ambassador for the United Nations) Slams Storm Aid Efforts
www.breitbart.com...


[edit on 2-9-2005 by Regenmacher]

Well like Rush said "Only the africans and mexicans got what they deserved."

Apparently there were no white people when the storn hit, and watching Fox News that may be true, except for reporters and cops 0 whites shown. On CNN they show white people, black people, hispanic people, even asian people, so I know there are some there. But according to people like Rush, Hannity, and O'Reilly only blacks and mexicans were there.

Looks like the profiteering has started.

Halliburton hired for storm cleanup, cha ching:
www.chron.com...


Isn't that special~

I see where you are coming from..
The contract was for cleanup and repair of naval facilities.

But I also see they are a Houston based company, which is close by.

I wonder who else was took part in the competitive bidding process back in 2004 when the contract was assigned to Haliburton subsidiary, KBR?

Halliburton owns Brown and Root and they were really active during Nam, this war economy probably ran by a who's who list at the Pentagon. Seems like the Houston Chronicle tried to slip this one under the rug with that little article too. Sure is damn funny they had that all set up beforehand.

Big Oil dancing on the backs of the Katrina victims looks like, wierd:

The Yahoo Major Oil & Gas Index shows stocks up 5% since Monday. ExxonMobil is up 5%. Halliburton is up about 8%. Why would companies sustaining massive damage to their property be doing so well? Why would investors bet that this is good for the oil industry?
news.yahoo.com...

A high-ranking Army Corps of Engineers official who publicly criticized the
Pentagon's decision to award Halliburton Co. a no-bid contract for work in
Iraq has been demoted, officials said Monday.
news.yahoo.com.../ap/20050829/ap_on_re_us/army_contracting_2
Hey he wasn't playing along, got to give him the bootski!~

Maybe we shall see Halliburton drill for oil in French Quarter eventually.

[edit on 3-9-2005 by Regenmacher]

Ca Ching! This is precious, where did you find me? LOL

And what, pray tell, was this dear senator's solution for the problem? Or was he just content with saying "doom! Gloom! Everything's bad!" to upset people and get the media camera away from the aftermath of Katrina for a moment and get himself some press?

What was his idea to fix the problem today and help all those people who are suffering and have lost everything? Mr. Vitter, if I could vote for you, I wouldn't. Thanks for nothing.

Originally posted by junglejake
And what, pray tell, was this dear senator's solution for the problem? Or was he just content with saying "doom! Gloom! Everything's bad!" to upset people and get the media camera away from the aftermath of Katrina for a moment and get himself some press?

What was his idea to fix the problem today and help all those people who are suffering and have lost everything? Mr. Vitter, if I could vote for you, I wouldn't. Thanks for nothing.

Guess you better read up more before castigating and admonishing the whistle blowers. Maybe voting should be a privilege too.

Vitter said disaster officials should plunge ahead, even if they make some mistakes in rescuing survivors and getting them aid in the storm and flood-ravaged New Orleans area.

Vitter, said he will ask Bush to send active-duty military personnel. It would take as many as four days to get 28,000 of them. We need to get ahead of that and not always be a day behind like we've been the last four days.''

"Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get it here to New Orleans." The mayor's outburst came as David Vitter, Republican senator from Louisiana, claimed as many as 10,000 people could have died.

KATRINA: Vitter Announces Relief Fund

My solution is transport the refugees onto all those closed military bases, put them to good use.

So where's your solution?

My solution is to volunteer with the Red Cross and have them, vets in natural disasters, tell me what to do. I start tomorrow, it sounds like I'll be answering phones. My dad and several friends, it sounds like, are going to be going to New Orleans. FEMA just asked for firefighters, or retired firefighters (as my dad is) to go out there to help collect the dead. He's answering the call.

What's my solution? Give all I have to those more knowledgable than myself in these situations. I don't know what's needed, so who the heck am I to condemn people for doing what my ignorant self would think is needed? Beyond that, who am I to point my finger and say, hey, 6 months ago, you did this! Go back in time and change that!

In this day and age people are desensitized to what the situation actually encompasses. It's the worst natural disaster in American history and to step into Vitter's shoes you can see he is angry and shocked at the condition of the state. By saying 10,000 dead brings it all into light, and this is no time for candy coating and making nice PC slap happy stories. So sound the red alert, make people open their eyes!

Starting a relief fund backs up that he's not just some bash and blame neocon nutbag. He's breaking ranks and becoming a realist, that means a lot in my book. I'm not nor ever will be a sheeple type of person.
www.answers.com...

Here's my pet project for many years-feeding the hungry in the US:
www.firstfoodbank.org...

[edit on 4-9-2005 by Regenmacher]

Originally posted by Regenmacher


"Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get it here to New Orleans." The mayor's outburst came as David Vitter, Republican senator from Louisiana, claimed as many as 10,000 people could have died.

KATRINA: Vitter Announces Relief Fund

My solution is transport the refugees onto all those closed military bases, put them to good use.

So where's your solution?

Where was Mayor Nagin when there was a mandatory evacuation? Why didn't he use all the buses at his disposal before the storm hit?

This is straight from Louisiana's disaster plan. Reported by the Drudge Report.

Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00

'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...


Anyone blaming Bush and the feds, have never been to Louisiana. I am living in Louisiana, and the local and state governments have no clue.

Governor Blanco should offer her resignation immediately!

Originally posted by Jestaman
Well like Rush said "Only the africans and mexicans got what they deserved."

can you provide a link for this or is it just something you made up? Me and several others have searched for this quote and found NOTHING.

Did Rush whisper it into your ear?

You do know that knowingly posting false information is a violation of the T&Cs?

[edit on 4-9-2005 by Amuk]

Originally posted by Carseller4
Anyone blaming Bush and the feds, have never been to Louisiana. I am living in Louisiana, and the local and state governments have no clue.

Governor Blanco should offer her resignation immediately!

I blame them all the demorepublican nutjobs politicos!

Federal, state and city government has failed to protect the people.

What's the principle reason for a NATIONAL guard?

Naaawww, it isn't Bush's fault that an appreciable percentage of the Louisana National Guard was in Iraq, and it certainly isn't Bush's fault as to who is running FEMA. And, of course, Bush had nothing to do with cutting the funding for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Thanks for nothing...






El Chimp does photo-op:

But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young and old - deserve far better from their national government.

Read about more Nola madness here:
www.fromtheroots.org...

Next week on that nutjob planet channel:
NYC sends its fire department to Iraq and watches the city burn down.


[edit on 4-9-2005 by Regenmacher]

They all get F's.

The only ones who don't are the ones who escaped and they made it out with their Life. The casualties know what their score is. Zip--piddity... to the Big Brass Band in the Sky.


The ONLY saving grace Halliburton has going for it is that it is a large employer in the region and it's gonna need some survivors willing to roll up their sleeves and dig in to The Big Easy.

Now being a large employer (the oil industry too) does have a certain play on politics naturally.

If more Republicans like Vetter would step up and show some cajones; I might stay in the GOP but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Vagabond created a term about this country that I like.
He called it a Kleptocracy [ruled by theives].